It is often necessary to inspect and maintain areas under conditions that render them inaccessible or otherwise uninhabitable for humans for an extended period. These conditions include, for example, small confined spaces and harsh environments such as insufficient air/oxygen, presence of toxins, radioactivity, contamination, excessive dust, dirt and filth, and high noise levels. These conditions can be found, for example, in areas common to storm and sewer pipes, nuclear reactors and containment structures, fossil fuel plants and petrochemical refining facilities just to name a few. Although each area presents its own problems and complexities with respect to inspecting and maintaining, the inconvenient and time-consuming nature of performing an initial inspection is common to all.
For illustrative purposes, the inspection of storm and sewer pipes is considered in detail, although the scope of the present invention is by no means limited to this application. Most municipalities contain a vast network of storm and sewer pipes, often representing the oldest infrastructure in the community.
Periodically, these pipes must be inspected for problems such as cracks, blockage, build-up, and root infiltration. To this end, it is common for an invasive device such as a pipe crawler or push camera to be introduced into the pipe to perform the inspection. Although effective in obtaining detailed images, using a pipe crawler is inconvenient and requires a great deal of time to set up and operate even if no problem is discovered. Furthermore, the use of pipe crawlers is frequently limited by the size and configuration of pipes to be entered. In this regard, often the condition of the pipe (e.g., debris and fractures) prevents the use of invasive inspection devices like crawlers. Therefore, there is a need for a more convenient approach to inspect and maintain underground pipes without the time and complexity associated with invasive techniques such as the use of pipe crawlers or push cameras.
Recently, this need has been fulfilled by the QuickView® inspection device commercially available from Envirosight and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,538,732 and U.S. application Ser. No. 10/369,330, upon which the present application is based. The QuickView® inspection device provides for a quick and convenient non-invasive approach to ascertain the condition of an inaccessible or uninhabitable area before initiating an invasive procedure such as a comprehensive inspection or cleaning. More specifically, rather than physically entering the area with a robotic or push camera, a highly-maneuverable, hand-held inspection system is provided having an imaging head which can be readily positioned to image the general area initially, and then to zoom in on a target to obtain its image with the desired degree of detail. Thus, the device obtains images of inaccessible or uninhabitable areas by maneuvering an imaging head and using its magnification capabilities, rather than by physically entering the area.
Once the images are obtained, an analysis may be performed to determine whether problems such as cracks, blockage, and root infiltration exist. The images obtained in one embodiment are in a readily-transmittable form, such as a bitmap, thereby allowing them to be transmitted off-site for analysis if desired. If no problem is detected, then the device can be moved quickly to another area to perform another inspection. This way, the time of setting up and operating a pipe crawler or similar device is not wasted on areas that are in acceptable condition.
On the other hand, if a problem is detected, an invasive procedure may be performed to correct or further assess the problem. For example, if a crack is detected, a more comprehensive inspection may be performed in which an invasive inspection device, such as a pipe crawler or push camera, is introduced in the pipe to obtain detailed images pursuant to formulating a plan to remedy the situation. Likewise, if the initial inspection detects that a pipe is clogged, it may be cleaned contemporaneously by introducing an invasive cleaning device into the pipe to remove the obstruction. Thus, rather than awkwardly halting cleaning operations between invasive inspections, a blockage situation may be quickly and easily ascertained on the spot, in one embodiment while the cleaning personnel standby.
Although the QuickView® inspection device has been effective in performing non-invasive inspecting and maintenance, there is an ongoing need to improve the performance and maneuverability of the inspection device. In particular, applicant recognizes a need to improve the device's ability to focus on a target at long range down a pipe. The present invention fulfills this need among others.